Just because it’s not the holiday season doesn’t mean the Teddy Bear Toss is in hibernation for another year. On Saturday, the American Hockey League’s Hershey Bears and their fans did the event proud with a world record collection of teddy bears.
Early in the first period of their 5-0 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack, Axel Jonsson-Fjällby got the fans to toss 52,341 bears with the opening goal of the game.
That’s not all that Bears fans would throw that night. Jonsson-Fjällby would score twice more in the win to complete his hat trick and see the GIANT Center ice littered with hats after it was covered in bears a few hours before.
FIRST THEY THREW THE BEARS
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) January 23, 2022
NOW THEY THROW THE HATS #TeddyBearTossHershey pic.twitter.com/dGhF7tLpNV
According to the Bears, the 52,341 teddy bears and stuffed animals collected breaks their previous world record of 45,765, which they set the last time they held the event in 2019.
The cuddly creatures will be donated to over 25 local charities including Boys & Girls Club of Harrisburg and Autism Society Greater Harrisburg Area. This was the 20th Teddy Bear Toss in the team’s history, and since 2001 they’ve donated 322,199 stuffed furry friends.
(Photo courtesy Hershey Bears and JustSports Photography)
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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.